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Ecotourism's principles clearly distinguish it from conventional mass tourism. Instead of classic tourist meccas, ecotourism seeks out remote locations with strict environmental protections and operates on a small scale. Tourists, businesses, and local residents are encouraged to minimize their impact on the environment by recycling materials, conserving energy and water, safely treating, human waste and properly disposing of garbage, using alternative energy, and building in a manner that fits in with natural surroundings. The financial benefits from ecotourism are passed on to the community through conservation projects, employment, partnerships and local participation in the development and management of local resources. Synonymous with "green" tourism, ecotourism promotes cultural sensitivity and respect for traditions and customs in order to avoid the kind of exploitation that has turned tribal ceremonies into side shows and relics into souvenirs. Last but not least, ecotourism plays a political role in its support of human rights and democracy.

The popularity of ecotourism is a problem in itself. The original ecotourism numbers, deeply committed to conservation and actively engaged in cultural time, were willing to rough it out and go off the beaten path; but now the so-called en masse expect the comforts of home packaged in a pretty setting. A once honored treasure, it has become a commodity and a photo opportunity. Eco-tourists consume more resources and leave a larger impact on the environment. Operators require more land to accommodate this demand. As ecotourism spreads to every corner of the earth, it could end up defeating its original purposes.

The great Roman orator, Cicero, in his celebrated treatise on Friendship, remarks with truth that it increases happiness and diminishes misery by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief. When we do well, it is delightful to have friends who are so proud of our success that they receive as much pleasure from it as we do ourselves. For the friendless man the attainment of wealth, power, and honour is of little value. Such possessions contribute to our happiness most by enabling us to do good to others but if all those whom we are able to benefit are strangers, we take far less pleasure in our beneficence than if it were exerted on behalf of friends whose happiness is as dear to us as our own. Further, when we do our duty in spite of temptation, the mental satisfaction obtained from the approval of our conscience is heightened by the praise of our friends; for their judgement is as it were a second conscience, encouraging us in good and deterring us from evil. Our amusements have little zest and soon pall upon us if we engage in them in solitude, or with uncongenial companions, for whom we can feel no affection. Thus in every case our joys are rendered more intense and more permanent by being shared with friends.

It is equally true that, as Cicero points out, friendship diminishes our misery by enabling us to share the burden of it with others. When fortune has inflicted a heavy unavoidable blow upon us, our grief is alleviated by friendly condolence, and by the thought that as long as friends are left to us, life is still worth living.

But many misfortunes which threaten us are not inevitable and in escaping such misfortunes, the advice and active assistance of our friends may be invaluable. The friendless man stands alone, exposed, without protection, to his enemies and to the blows of fortune; but whoever has loyal friends is thereby provided with a strong defence against the worst that fortune can do to him.

The great Roman orator, Cicero, in his celebrated treatise on Friendship, remarks with truth that it increases happiness and diminishes misery by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief. When we do well, it is delightful to have friends who are so proud of our success that they receive as much pleasure from it as we do ourselves. For the friendless man the attainment of wealth, power, and honour is of little value. Such possessions contribute to our happiness most by enabling us to do good to others but if all those whom we are able to benefit are strangers, we take far less pleasure in our beneficence than if it were exerted on behalf of friends whose happiness is as dear to us as our own. Further, when we do our duty in spite of temptation, the mental satisfaction obtained from the approval of our conscience is heightened by the praise of our friends; for their judgement is as it were a second conscience, encouraging us in good and deterring us from evil. Our amusements have little zest and soon pall upon us if we engage in them in solitude, or with uncongenial companions, for whom we can feel no affection. Thus in every case our joys are rendered more intense and more permanent by being shared with friends.

It is equally true that, as Cicero points out, friendship diminishes our misery by enabling us to share the burden of it with others. When fortune has inflicted a heavy unavoidable blow upon us, our grief is alleviated by friendly condolence, and by the thought that as long as friends are left to us, life is still worth living.

But many misfortunes which threaten us are not inevitable and in escaping such misfortunes, the advice and active assistance of our friends may be invaluable. The friendless man stands alone, exposed, without protection, to his enemies and to the blows of fortune; but whoever has loyal friends is thereby provided with a strong defence against the worst that fortune can do to him.

Trees give shade for the benefit of others and while they themselves stand in the sun and endure scorching heat, they produce the fruit by which others profit. The character of good men is like that of trees. What is the use of this perishable body, if no use of it is made, for the benefit of mankind ? Sandalwood—the more it is rubbed the more scent does it yield. Sugarcane-the more it is peeled and cut into pieces, the more juice does it produce. Gold—the more it is burnt, the more brightly does it shine. The men who are noble at heart do not lose these qualities even in the face of death. What does it matter whether men praise them or not ? What difference does it make whether riches abide with them or not ? What does it signify whether they die at this moment or whether their lives are prolonged ? Whatever may happen, those who tread on the right path will not set foot in any other. Life itself is unprofitable to a man who does not live for others. Those who lay down their lives for the sake of a friend, or even for the sake of a stranger, will assuredly dwell forever in a world of bliss.